Page 89 of Dangerous Promises

But I do the dumb thing instead.

I pull her in close and hold her tight.

Chapter

Thirty-Seven

Sage

Igently pull away from Alexei, reveling in the feel of his hot body on mine. He looks deep into my eyes as he strokes the hair away from my face. Both of us breathing hard from the comedown.

That was incredible. I've never been made to feel so powerful and wanted. Especially now as his rough hand cups my cheek and I'm allowed to sit in this moment for a while. I have the urge to lean forward…

Oh. Fuck.

I jolt upright, his cock still inside me, and glance towards the door with wide eyes. It's still firmly shut and undisturbed. I breathe a sigh of relief that we haven't been caught, but immediately resort back to panic when my eyes meet his again. Jesus Christ, how loud were we? I have to get him off of me and out of here as quick as possible before someone realizes what's going on. Oh fuck what have I done?

I have no excuses to fall back on anymore. I know exactly who he is and what he is. I am intimately acquainted with all the wounds he's inflicted on me. I know the damage he's done. And I've let him inside me now more than once. I know better than this and still, I did it anyway.

Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.

I sit up and he slips out of me. I trip over myself to get away from him, falling off the edge of the lounge and onto the floor. I quickly right myself and focus on fixing my dress and not on the sticky substance running down my thigh.

"Princess," Alexei says, tone tense and jaw tight. He only moves enough to tuck himself back into his pants. Otherwise he remains still, like any sudden movement might send me off the edge and he's probably right.

I shake my head as I stand on shaky feet. I rush about the room in a panic, a tiny frown on my face as I try to set everything back to how it was before we were in here. Which is futile and ridiculous. Something that I recognize as a dramatic overreaction because all we've touched is the couch but I'm focused on straightening the ornaments on the bookshelf.

People will be looking for us. It's not a secret that he's here or that I went away to patch him up. How long have we been in here? How long have we been missing? Has anyone noticed?

The sweat on my forehead gets wetter as I get hotter and hotter, feeling like I'm about to combust.

I look over my shoulder where Alexei has stood up off the lounge and is buttoning his pants back up even as his shirt hangs open at the reminder of his half-tended wound.

Should I fix it? I make a step towards him to do so before I think better of it.

"Nobody saw, princess," Alexei says, even though his tone sounds bitter as he says it.

In the back of my mind I know that no one has seen us. The fallout would be much worse if they did. If Dad hates the fact that we're working with the Rushkoffs I can't imagine what he'd do if he found out what I'd let Alexei do to me.

And I let him do it again. Again and again. Over and over.

Over and over and over I let him close to me and I let him in and I let him touch me. There's no excuse for it anymore. Maybe before I was fooled. Maybe before I was under a canopy of anger that could be explained away. But not anymore.

Now, I know who Alexei Rushkoff is. I am sure of it.

He's everything evil and wild and horrible and wonderful. I know all the darkest parts of both him and of me and still I let him do it again.

I want to kill Alexei Rushkoff.

I would die without him.

"Are you done freaking out?" he asks, calmly watching me with mildly restrained annoyance.

I cringe and reach a finger to my mouth to chew on my nail, but think better of it.

His lips purse in annoyance. Of all the times I've let him close to me, I'm not sure why I'm choosing to freak outnow. Except that I am sure. Totally sure.

His eyes follow me as I pace back and forth.